but will it be for good?}

No more power lunches at Harvey's Bistro or marriage proposals at Manuel's on the 28th on Orlando's Orange Avenue.

The sister restaurants, two of the city's downtown dining institutions, served their last meals Saturday.

Representatives of the restaurants said they could not reach a new lease deal with their landlord at the Bank of America Center.

"It's unfortunate that we had to come to this," said Manny Garcia, who created both restaurants in the 1990s. "We just couldn't come to an agreement as to the rent, particularly in these economic times."

Garcia, who was out of town, hinted in a voice-mail message that the restaurants could reopen at some point.

Hal Valdes, president of the company that ran the restaurants, said other landlords have approached them about opening in a new location, but there are no immediate plans to do that.

Representatives from America's Capital Partners in Miami, which manages the Bank of America Center, could not be reached Monday.

The closings are a sign of tough times. High-end restaurants have struggled, especially as companies have cut back on expense accounts and consumers have reduced their spending.

For more than 15 years, Harvey's Bistro on the building's bottom floor was a popular power-lunch spot.

"It was a special place," said attorney Roy Kobert, who works in the building at 390 N. Orange Ave. and often took clients to lunch at Harvey's. "It was our local place, and that is hard to replicate."

With its sweeping view of Orlando, Manuel's was a popular special-occasion spot.

Together, the two restaurants employed 50 people.

Some of them are finding jobs with Chef Creations, of which Valdes is president and Garcia is a director. Chef Creations produces soups, sauces and other items for restaurants.

The employees also could find jobs with other downtown restaurants, which Valdes said have already expressed interest and plan to interview the employees today.